Kuo Duan led the cavalry to Shuanggou Town and met Zhao Tai who was setting up defenses here.
At this time, Kuo Duan saw that Zhao Tai had built fortifications in the town and sown iron caltrops outside the town, making it impossible for his cavalry to display their combat effectiveness, so he had to retreat and retreat.
When Zhao Tai saw the Mongolian cavalry retreating, he immediately waved his hand and said, "Let me continue to build fortifications!"
While Kuoduan was waiting for Zhang Rou to lead the infantry, a fierce battle had broken out outside Xuzhou City.
After Kuo Duan led the main force southward, Heda and Guan Nu immediately led the Xuzhou soldiers and launched an attack on the Mongolian camp.
Mongolian general Shi Tianze led 10,000 people to defend the camp. The two sides fought fiercely, with arrows like rain, and the sound shook the sky.
Guide Mansion, Xiayi County.
Wanyan Chenglin, the commander of the guards and horsemen who came from Kaifeng, stood on the city wall and looked far in the direction of Xuzhou.
The Western Front of the Jin Kingdom was facing a complete defeat, and Kaifeng was unable to rescue Luoyang, so they had no choice but to adopt Zhao Tai's suggestion of playing broad-side first.
In accordance with Zhao Tai's request, the Jin court sent Wanyan Chenglin to lead five thousand cavalry and galloped to Guide at starry night to wait for orders. As soon as Kuo Duan left Xuzhou, they followed Kuo Duan and attacked Kuo Duan with Zhao Tai who set out from Suining.
Seeing that the agreed time had arrived, there was still no news from Xuzhou, which made Wanyan Chenglin a little worried that the situation had changed.
Could it be that Kuo Duan discovered our intention, or something happened in Xuzhou?
Now that the defeat of the Western Front has been determined, if the broad end in the east cannot be eliminated before the Mongolian army breaks through Luoyang, then Kaifeng will be attacked from both sides and unable to defend at all.
"Commander!" Just when Wanyan Chenglin was worried, a general came to the city in a hurry.
Wanyan Chenglin turned around and blurted out, "But the broad end moved?"
"Reporting to the Palace Marshal, the Grand Marshal has sent news that Kuo Duan is leading an army of 40,000 people to go south. The Grand Marshal ordered our troops to dispatch quickly to assist Marshal Zhao Jie. The Grand Marshal will go south to join us after defeating Shi Tianze."
Wanyan Chenglin's face showed excitement, and he immediately waved his fist and shouted, "Send the order, the army is ready, follow me to attack immediately!"
As soon as he gave the order, the county town immediately erupted in excitement. The cavalrymen rushed out of the barracks and mounted their horses, while the auxiliary soldiers put their armor on their mules and horses.
About half an hour later, five thousand elite cavalry and more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers followed the Mongolian army on horseback and pulled mules.
Just as the cavalry from Kaifeng was dispatched, the garrison in Dangshan County, under the command of Wuxian, the military commander of the Wuwei Army, gathered out of the city. After a brief mobilization, 20,000 infantry troops and 1,000 horse troops marched south.
Shuanggou Town, Mongolian army camp.
After Kuo Duan met Zhao Tai, he found that Zhao Tai had built relatively complete fortifications. His cavalry had no choice but to wait for the infantry to arrive.
One day later, Zhang Rou led 40,000 infantry troops to reach Shuanggou. Kuoduan immediately summoned many Han generals overnight to discuss strategies for attacking the town.
In the big account, Kuo Duan handed an iron caltrop to Zhang Rou and said with a dark face: "This Zhao Tai is really an insidious villain, he can only hide like a mouse and then use these vicious and despicable things. Now he is hiding in the town, and the outside is covered with this caltrop, making it impossible for the king’s cavalry to get close to the town.”
Kuo Duan hated Zhao Tai, but with Zhao Tai in front of him, he couldn't place his mouth, which made him anxious and angry, and there were blisters on his mouth.
Zhang Rou took it over and checked it. He observed it carefully, and Kuo Duan reminded: "This thing is poisonous, so be careful."
Zhang Rou's hand seemed to have been bitten by a snake. He was so horrified that he threw it away quickly, and then said with lingering fear: "This Zhao Tai is indeed vicious. This caltrop is already vicious, but he actually tempers the poison. Once the men and horses step on it, they will all be killed." No hope."
Kuo Duan nodded, "That's true. Do you have a way to clean this thing?"
Zhang Rou said in a deep voice: "You can drive the people and livestock away, go through them first, and then attack."
Kuo Duan shook his head, "I have thought of this method before, but the Jin State has a strong wall and clear fields, and there are no people around to catch!"
Zhang Rou thought the same thing. How could the Mongolians not think of this? If it could be used, they would have used it long ago without any need for him to remind them.
At this time, Zhang Rou couldn't help but fell into deep thought. After a moment, he smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you can have some weeds and reeds cut, weave them into balls or cylinders, and roll them on the ground. This should be able to clean up these caltrops. "
Kuo Duan's eyes lit up and he nodded with satisfaction: "Okay! Then it's up to you to do it!"
Zhang Rou quickly clasped her fists and said, "I humbly obey my orders."
The next day, Zhang Rou asked the Mongolian troops to cut grass everywhere, and asked the soldiers to cut down trees, cut them into wooden boards, and fix them under the shoes to serve as soles.
At ten o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Rou, who had completed preparations, immediately ordered the soldiers with wooden boards tied to their soles to hold shields and cover the soldiers behind them by pushing grass balls and clearing the iron caltrops outside the town.
Zhang Rou's method was indeed a good one. Once the thorns were rolled by the grass ball, they were embedded in the grass ball.
Kuo Duan looked at the Mongolian army, pushing the grass ball with a tree branch, looking at Shuanggou Town, and said cruelly: "Zhao Tai, when I clear the obstacles, you will die."
At this time, Zhao Tai received the news and came to a high place. He saw the Mongolian troops outside the town working under the cover of sword and shield men. He immediately ordered: "Archers, fire rockets for me!"
The archers in the town immediately unfurled their bows and nocked arrows, throwing out the lit arrows.
For a moment, it was like a shower of meteors and fire outside the town, and rockets shot down. The arrows hit the grass balls, and a raging fire suddenly ignited.
The smile that Kuo Duan had just shown froze again. His face was dark and he was completely angry. He roared and ordered: "Go on, no matter the cost, clean up the caltrops for me!"
At the moment, Zhang Rou could only order the infantry to clean up the grass balls with their shields. When the grass balls were set on fire, they would pick them up with their hands. In short, they must clear a passage for the army to attack.
Zhao Tai looked at the sky and estimated that the Mongolian army had finished cleaning up and it was almost dark, so he smiled and said: "Keep shooting arrows. When they finish cleaning up, send someone out at night to spread a new layer on me."
After giving the instructions, Zhao Tai turned around and returned to the town. The archers in the town continued to fire arrows at the Mongolian troops who were clearing the iron caltrops.
Although the Mongolian army held up their shields, some people were still hit by arrows and fell to the ground.
The Mongolian army braved the rain of arrows and worked hard all afternoon. It was near dusk that they finally cleared away the caltrops.
Zhang Rou completed the task and hurriedly went to inform Kuo Duan. Kuo Duan was immediately overjoyed when he heard the words, "Okay! After clearing the caltrops, we can attack the town tomorrow. I want to see how many pounds Zhao Tai's army has." !”
Zhang Judao: "Zhao Tai's troops are all new troops and have no fighting power at all. We will definitely be able to attack and kill Zhao Tai tomorrow!"
Kuo Duan nodded: "General Zhang will recharge his batteries tonight and let me attack the town tomorrow and capture Zhao Tai. I will give you a lot of rewards!"
Zhang Rou saluted quickly and then left the tent. Just as he was about to lift the curtain and go out, Kuo Duan suddenly stopped him, "Wait a minute!"
"What else does the prince have to say?" Zhang Rou stopped.
Kuo Duan narrowed his eyes and sneered: "That guy Zhao Tai is insidious. You send a team of people to watch and prevent him from taking advantage of the night to re-lay the iron caltrops!"
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